PM Will Stay Till 2014: Congress

Rejecting the Mamata-Mulayam combine choice of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as presidential candidate, Congress declared that the PM will stay till 2014. It said that it can't spare the Prime Minister as presidential candidate. "Manmohan Singh will stay prime minister till 2014," Congress leader Janardhan Dwivedi told reporters. "We cannot afford to spare Dr. Manmohan Singh," he added.

It was the first comment of the party since Trinamool Congress' Mamata Banerjee and Samajwadi Party's Mulayam Singh Yadav Wednesday listed Manmohan Singh as one of their preferred choices for the president's post. The Congress also said no to former president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam's name as presidential candidate. The party stood by its choice of Pranab Mukherjee and vice-president Ahmed Ansari as its candidates. Meanwhile, in a surprise turn of events, presidential hopeful P.A. Sangma has decided not to contest the election scheduled next month. Instead, the NCP leader articulated his support for former president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam for the post of President.